Basic — most of nights in tents or rooms with shared WC, some nights in comfortable rooms.

Standard — most of nights in comfortable rooms, some nights in tents or rooms with shared WC.

Upgraded — all nights in comfortable rooms.

Comfort

Minimum age of the participant of this trip

12 Days

September

Highlights

Cruise on the Lena River

Sailing through the Lena Schyoki

Getting acquainted with the Yakuts and their culture

Conference on Yakutia and russian language class

Visit of Yakutsk (Yakutia's capital)

Tour Overview

Welcome on board!

This tour gives you the opportunity to explore one of the most mysterious regions of Siberia: Yakutia.

Aboard the cruise ship you will sail up the third greatest river in Russia: the Lena River.

You will begin your tour with a visit of Yakutia's capital: Yakutsk. Then, as soon as the ship gets going you can admire the beautiful landscapes and distinctive features that the banks have in store, including the Lena Pillars and the impressive Lena Schyoki Canyon.

This cruise will also allow you to meet the Yakuts, whose history and daily life is intimately linked to the Lena River.

The cruise is held on board of the ship "Mikhail Svetlov" (or "Demyan Bedniy" - the sister ship.

*The indicated time is approximate and can be changed according to the chosen flight.

11:00

Transfer to the river port

12:00

Accommodation in the cabins and the start of the navigation

Rest. Start of the navigation. This day we will go to the Sottintsy village where the open-air museum.

13:00

Lunch on board

14:00

Excursion to the museum of history and architecture

Excursion to historic-architecture open-air museum "Druzhba" ("Friendship") located on the place of the primary foundation of the "Lensk fortified town" founded by Russian cossacks, the future city of Yakutsk. The Museum shows samples of ancient wooden architecture in traditional Russian and Yakut styles. The wooden home utensils, national Yakut clothes and monuments of Russian Orthodoxy are very interesting. Wonderful landscapes and interesting historical excursions make the museum visit both informative and pleasant.

19:00

Dinner

Overnight on board

Photo of the day

Route

Yakutsk — Lena river

Accommodation

Accommodation in the twin cabin, Mikhail Svetlov

Twin cabin

09:00

Breakfast

11:00

Lena Pillars national park

Stay in the "Lena Pillars" national park where one can see steep rocks - in the form of 200 meters high pillars that are stretched for 40 km along the river. One can distinguish colonnades, arches, battlements in their shapes. You will enjoy a wonderful rest in this fairy "land".

13:00

Lunch during the excursion

14:00

Continuation of the excursion

After having a welcome ceremony with ritual dance and "Purifying with fire" ceremony you will be taken to rock massif (a trip for tough and strong people!). There is no way to express how you will feel up there. From the top of one of the "towers" you will get a magnificent view of the great river, endless taiga zone and rocks. Looking up at the sky in all its different shades of colours one really feel like he is a part of this untouched nature.

19:00

Dinner

Overnight on board

Photo of the day

Route

Lena river

Accommodation

Accommodation in the twin cabin, Mikhail Svetlov

Twin cabin

09:00

Breakfast

11:00

Navigation to the Dapparai river

You will spend this day on board. Navigation from the Buotama river till the Dapparai river mouth.

13:00

Lunch

15:00

Free time

On board you have a possibility to watch films about Yakutia and attend lectures about culture and history of the regios.

19:00

Dinner

Overnight on boarf

Photo of the day

Route

Lena river

Accommodation

Accommodation in the twin cabin, Mikhail Svetlov

Twin cabin

09:00

Breakfast

11:00

Station near the Dapparai village

On the riverside you will be welcomed by the folklore concert and local rites.

13:00

Lunch

15:00

Walking along the shore

Our station is situated on the Lena River’s right bank. It’s not far away from Dapparai river mouth. Dapparai is a nice place for fishing. If the height of water is normal you will go to the sand and stony riverbank or deserted wood trails. Also you will enjoy an autumn beauty of taiga nature.

19:00

Dinner

Obernight on board

Photo of the day

Route

Lena river

Accommodation

Accommodation in the twin cabin, Mikhail Svetlov

Twin cabin

09:00

Breakfast

10:00

Green site near the Ura river embouchment

A picturesque green site on the left bank of the Lena River which is located 887 km upper Yakutsk city, right where the Ura River divides the Lena River in two equal parts –a source and an estuary. Sailors often call the Ura river estuary "Lena's equator".

13:00

Lunch

14:00

Free time

According to the tradition everyone who visits this place must bathe into water. Those who appreciate extreme experience can even try swimming in the "warm" waters of the Lena River (but it is recommended only to "ice swimmers"!).

19:00

Dinner

Overnight on board

Photo of the day

Route

Lena river

Accommodation

Accommodation in the twin cabin, Mikhail Svetlov

Twin cabin

08:00

Bus tour to Mirnyi city (to pay on site) — Not included

Departure early in the morning. Breakfast (lunch-box). City-tour in Mirnyi, visit of the quarry "Mir", of the museum of kimberlites, excursion to centre of diamonds triage.
*If you go for this excursion, the lunch will be proposed in the city.
*Return on board in the afternoon.
*The excursion costs 6000 RUB (the price can be changed a little).

09:00

Breakfast on board

10:00

Free time

For those trourists who don't go for the excursion, there is a good possibility to discover the city of Lensk or simply to relax and have a rest.

13:00

Lunch

19:00

Dinner

Overnight on board

Photo of the day

Route

Lena river

Accommodation

Accommodation in the twin cabin, Mikhail Svetlov

Twin cabin

09:00

Breakfast

10:00

Stop near the Vitim village

Vitim is a right tributary of the Lena river. It is formed by junction of Vitimkan and Cheena, one of the wildest and oldest rivers of South Siberia. Great expert of the area academician V.A. Obruchev wrote that Vitim was more original, magnificent and impressive than the slow Lena. The full length of the river is 1978 km. The Vitim River is technically complicated, with various set of natural obstacles. Navigation is made difficult by the important rush of water caused by autumn rain. At the river mouth is you can find the village of Vitim, which totals 6 000 inhabitants. Within the framework of mega-project and the growth of the Talakan oil deposit, a city is to be built right there in the near future.

13:00

Lunch on board

14:00

Walking excursion

We will visit the local school where the local history museum is situated.

19:00

Dinner

Overnight on board

Photo of the day

Route

Lena river

Accommodation

Accommodation in the twin cabin, Mikhail Svetlov

Twin cabin

09:00

Breakfast

11:00

Visit of Lena Schyoki canyon

The Lena Schyoki are located 269 km far from Kirensk downstream and 172 km from the Vitim estuary upstream. It is narrow canyon made of three copper-like red cliff formations that rise 200m above the river. These fancy cliffs covered by forests are one of the most beautiful and renowned places in the Lena River area.

13:00

Lunch

14:00

Continuation of the excursion

According to description of I.A. Goncharov in his book "Fregate Pallas": "These are huge magnificent rocks that I hardly saw on sea shores. They are wild and scary, and one just wants to pass them and get it over with". The river sheers from the first "cheek", comes to the second located right opposite the first one and then goes to the third, the biggest rock formation. The walls of the flexuous canyon reflect the sound of the ship 24 times. On the left bank there is a rock called "Drunk bull". This area is the narrowest on the Lena river (only 200 meters) and the most dangerous one.

19:00

Dinner

Overnight on board

Photo of the day

Route

Lena river

Accommodation

Accommodation in the twin cabin, Mikhail Svetlov

Twin cabin

09:00

Breakfast

10:00

Lensk city-tour

Lensk is a large river port which mainly serves the import-export traffic for the diamond extraction company ALROSA. It was built in 1963 in the Mukhtuya village area which was founded in XIX century as a post station on Prilensk road. Nowadays it is a modern town with a developed industry and cultural center. Lensk has a really tragic history linked with floods that swept away the town several times. But as a Phoenix bird the town was reborn again and again. In 2001 the town suffered its worst natural disaster. Since then a new block was built (with ALROSA's money) to replace the damaged wooden houses.

13:00

Lunch during the excursion

15:00

Continuation of the excursion

Walking along the river quay

19:00

Dinner

Overnight on board

Photo of the day

Route

Lena river

Accommodation

Accommodation in the twin cabin, Mikhail Svetlov

Twin cabin

09:00

Breakfast

10:00

Visit of Ancient Olyokminsk

You can enjoy the untouched nature and greatness of the Lena territory in the area of the Olekma River estuary. The first settlement of Olyokminsk - yasak winter houses - was established in the Olekma River estuary in 1635. Olyokminsk was also the place where the Decembrists were sent in exile. Old believers also settled there as they were looking to escape the reforms.

13:00

Lunch

15:00

Continuation of the excursion

Agriculture including crop farming was widely developed here due to mild climate. In Olyokminsk are located the woodworking industry and plaster mine. Just a little bit further lies the Chara River which is known for its deposits of rare semi-precious purple stone.

19:00

Dinner

Overnight on board

Photo of the day

Route

Lena river

Accommodation

Accommodation in the twin cabin, Mikhail Svetlov

Twin cabin

09:00

Breakfast

10:00

Navigation

This day you will go to the tributary of the Lena - Buotama. Buotama is a right tributary of the Lena with a length of 418 km. 40-30 thousand years ago this land was inhabited by hunters to mammoths and bisons. Lots of prehistoric settlements were discovered here. There are hundreds of years the river basin was rich in mineral which was produced iron. Nowadays in the taiga it is possible to find primitive kilns of the time.

13:00

Lunch

15:00

Excursion to the breeding center for bison

In 2006 near the source of the river Buotama a breeding center for bison was founded to restore the population representatives of mammoths family. The animals were transported from Canada. The buffalo breeding center of 100 hectars is unique in Russia.

19:00

Dinner

Overnight on board

Photo of the day

Route

Lena river

Accommodation

Accommodation in the twin cabin, Mikhail Svetlov

Twin cabin

05:00

Arrival to Yakutsk port

08:00

Breakfast

09:00

Transfer to te airport / hotel

End of the programme.

Photo of the day

Route

Lena river — Yakutsk

Discount system

> 6 months

> 8 months

> 10 months

Amount of discount (total payment)

5%

10%

20%

Amount of discount (deposit payment)

0

5%

10%

Discounts are applied to all services indicated on the official website of BaikalNature. Discounts aren't summarized with special offers and are not applied to individual tour programs.

The price is for one person and includes accommodation in a twin cabin. The price is fixed in euros.
Single supplement - 840 euros.
Everyday lectures about Yakutia, the Russian language classes and movie demonstration are offered. Thematic entertaining program in the musical saloon will be available in the evening.

Reviews

3.67

3.67

Total score

4.00

Work of BaikalNature office before and during travel / customer support

Very good cruise. The ship is clean and well organised. The crew and staff are pleasant and helpful. The entertainments and informative talks and films were good. Excursions along the way were interesting and well organised. Overall a very pleasant and relaxing holiday.

No reviews anymore or no reviews at all for this tour. Below reviews for destination:

They travelled with BaikalNature and speak about their tour. Discover their testimonies!Since 2012, we collect reviews from travelers who trusted us. At the end of their stay with us, each participant of our tours receives an e-mail asking to answer a survey in order to evaluate the quality of the given services.

Survey focuses on:

BaikalNature office / customer support

Quality of accommodation

Quality of meals

Friendliness and professionalism of guides / management

Quality and originality of visits / attractions / events

Rating goes from 1 – very poor to 5 – excellent.The published rating is the average of the ratings assigned from the traveler to each of those 6 fields.With due regard for transparency and integrity, we do our best to publish all reviews, good ones as bad ones.

Each review must follow rules below:

No aggressive, coarse, violent, obscene, comments

No private data (family name, telephone number, address and e-mail address) concerning both you and BaikalNature team, its hotel managers, transport companies, guides and other agents

No off-topic. Comments should be directly associated with the given tour and/or our services

Reviews are published as they have been written by their authors.

This webpage is meant to be a space where one’s can share and discuss. Therefore, BaikalNature retains the right to answer travelers' comments.Data « Overall rating » and « Travel with BaikalNature again? » give the average rating for all received evaluations. They are automatically calculated by our system.

Why subscribe? First, our newsletters are captivating! We are one of the few tour operators specializing in Russian nature, who invests a lot of resources into photo and video-shooting. That’s why even sitting in the office, you’ll feel like you are making your way among arctic ices, walking along taiga valleys, admiring volcanos or looking in the mirror of crystal Baykal waters.
Second, there is lots of useful stuff in our letters. The information about outstanding places, new routes’ descriptions, stories from expeditions and trips. And don’t worry, we write in an easy and entertaining manner.
And finally, we’re not pushy. You will get all this beauty
not often than once a month or two.
So you’re gonna miss us!